The NFL will decide soon if the postponed second week of the season will be moved to the first weekend in January, but several other options were discussed Monday.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and his staff held conference calls with teams Monday. For the most part, Tagliabue controlled the dialogue, as he should. The commissioner and NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw showed great leadership and sensitivity in postponing the second week of the NFL season.

Of the five plans being discussed, the one that has promise came from New Orleans Saints general manager Randy Mueller, but it probably won't happen. The reason: time. Those who work in the league office, which is based in New York, care about the sport, but their priorities have been changed by the terrorist attacks last week in the United States, particularly New York City.

Backed by most of the front-office people around the league and owners, the NFL feels it can do quite well with four less playoff teams and salvage the 15 postponed regular-season games in January. While it would be nice to spend weeks reviewing the schedule and seeing ways of keeping the best of both worlds, it isn't a priority and will be given a pass.

Hey, it would have been nice to see the league play this past Sunday, but it wasn't practical. Airplane travel was tough. The country was in mourning. And simply stated, it would be cruel to put distracted players on the field when their minds weren't on football.

Still, sports is all about open discussion. That's the fun of it. So as a diversion from the sad news being telecast daily and the fears from the stock market, let's play with a few of the ideas.

Mueller wants to rework the schedule around Thanksgiving. Already, four teams -- Green Bay at Detroit and Denver at Dallas -- are playing on Thanksgiving and don't have to return to the field until Dec. 2. There are 12 games that Sunday and one Monday. The Mueller plan calls for moving some of the postponed games to Thanksgiving and setting up schedules that squeezes in three games over a 14-day stretch.

	There has been some discussion for moving the Super Bowl back one week. It probably won't happen, but if there was time, maybe they could look at it. New Orleans hosts an auto convention the week after the Super Bowl that takes up 25,000 hotel rooms. It could be negotiated that the NFL and the convention flip weeks.

Similar adjustments could be made late October when the NFL plays a Thursday night game instead of having a Sunday night game -- Buffalo at Jacksonville on Oct. 18 -- going against the World Series. The World Series has been moved back a week, so an adjustment might have to be made anyway.

Using those pockets of games -- coupled with the fact that three teams a week have bye weeks during the World Series stretch -- give hope that maybe the NFL can have the best of both worlds -- 16 games and 12 playoff teams. There is also a bonus for the networks, particularly Fox, which could pick up a prime-time weekday game, maybe a rare Tuesday night treat.

The beauty of the NFL this year is the AFC, a conference overloaded with great teams. Under the likely setup of 16 games and eight playoff teams, the second-place team in the AFC East and AFC West probably will miss the playoffs. Tennessee and Baltimore, in some order, should be the first and fourth seeds in the four-seeded AFC playoff for a couple of reasons. First, the Titans and Ravens should finish, at worst, 8-2 in the division. Over the past couple of years, the 10-game schedule in which the Bengals and expansion Cleveland Browns are featured, has allowed the AFC Central champ to have the top seed and the second-place team to have the top wild-card spot.

Having a chance for eight conference victories should be the ticket to the playoffs in a shortened field this year. Second, the tough AFC West will make it difficult for the second-place team to make it as a wild card. Same thing in the AFC East. A playoff without either the Raiders or Broncos and Dolphins or Colts, would be a weakened slate. Those teams are among the 10 best in the NFL and would be much higher seeds in the weaker NFC.

Any lengthy dialogue that could salvage it would be worthwhile.

One of the other plans being floated doesn't have any chance. It features a 15-game schedule and a 16-team playoff. No way. The NFL owners won't give up the revenue from a regular-season week, and the players would like to salvage that 16th-game paycheck. Plus, there are so many problems with a 15-game slate. The Chargers would have played 16 games. Losing a home game is unfair. This simply won't happen.

There has been some discussion for moving the Super Bowl back one week. It probably won't happen, but if there was time, maybe they could look at it. New Orleans hosts an auto convention the week after the Super Bowl that takes up 25,000 hotel rooms. It could be negotiated that the NFL and the convention flip weeks.

It would be foolish of me to guess all the other arrangements that would have to be juggled. If that wasn't a problem, moving the Super Bowl back a week would be the easiest solution. And to be honest, easy is the right response for this situation.

Players might have problems squeezing so many games in a short period of time, and they might have to approve such a plan. It might take weeks to see if the convention in New Orleans can make a swap.

As much as I and coaches and general managers would love to salvage 16 games and 12 playoff teams, it probably won't happen. Terrorists have caused major adjustments in our national freedoms. Compared to those changes, a shortened playoff field for one year is quite acceptable.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.